Theatres join Open Rehearsal

Published April 17, 2008

The Royal Court, the National Theatre, Sadler’s Wells, theUnicorn and many other theatres across London are throwing open their doors to the public for this year’s Open Rehearsal, held from 27 September to 2 October.

Open Rehearsal, organised by the Mayor of London, gives the public a chance to go behind the scenes and sample London’s music, theatre, dance and opera. Piloted last year, the initiative returns this autumn with a huge range of activities on offer, mostly free of charge.

Many London theatres are providing backstage tours, including the Royal Court, Sadler’s Wells, the Lyric Hammersmith, the National, the Unicorn and the Old Vic. Other activities include: an Introduction to Playwriting Workshop at the Royal Court, in which aspiring playwrights aged 16 and over can benefit from the advice of a professional playwright and director; an open rehearsal at the Central School of Ballet; a Q&A session with Matt Charman, author of The Five Wives Of Maurice Pinder, at the National; ballet classes with English National Ballet; a dance workshop with Hofesh Shechter Company at Sadler’s Wells; an open rehearsal workshop of Jean Genet’s The Blacks at Theatre Royal Stratford East; and the chance to see the technical checks and warm up before an evening performance of Complicite’s A Disappearing Number at the Barbican.

For children, events include a music-making workshop for ages 4-10 at the Lyric Hammersmith inspired by its show Lost And Found, a family play day at the Royal Academy of Music, and a sing-along at Union Chapel.